Mayor Annise Parker and District A council member Brenda Stardig joined the organizations for a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 9.

Joe Turner, director of the city's parks and recreation department, said that funding for this project was made possible through a $15 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant for regional bike and pedestrian trails.

The grant will fund six projects.

The White Oak Bayou Path covers a stretch from Alabonson Road to Antoine Drive where pedestrian traffic had been previously blocked.

"We're trying to close up gaps in different pieces of our trail system," Turner said. "It's an eighth of a mile, but it was a crucial piece with a bridge."

These gaps, where the paths don't meet, caused users to stop and turn around. Closing the gaps they connects paths to make thoroughfares.

The other projects include the White Oak Bayou Path between 11th Street and Stude Park, as well as a connection to residential neighborhoods from the path and to Buffalo Bayou Path, which will also include a .3 mile gap closure between Smith and Travis.

East downtown will gain connections between transit, residential and commercial spaces, totaling 8.6 miles of gap closures.

Brays Bayou Path will also benefit from a 1.6 mile gap-closure project and a .6 mile alternative transit path.

Turner said that once all of the projects are completed, the city will have an alternative transportation system with connected off-road hike-and-bike trails.

Matching funds for the projects have come from the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, the Greater East End Management District and the Houston Parks Board.

The Alabonson Road to Antoine Drive link was built through a partnership with the Houston Parks Board for $1.88 million.

Funding sources for construction included $1.5 from the federal grant and $376,200 from voter-approved park bond funds. The Houston Parks Board raised additional private funds for design and engineering.

Roksan Okan-Vick, executive director of the nonprofit Houston Parks Board, said this segment is an important piece of the Bayou Greenways 2020 project, which will create a continuous system of parks and 150 miles of hike-and-bike trails along Houston's major waterways.

"We did the legwork, and we were lucky enough to be approved for the grant," she said.

Okan-Vick said that there are three gaps on White Oak Bayou that needed to be addressed.

"This is the first one, and if you go further downstream, there is another we are working on," she said.

When all trail sections are completed, it will be possible to travel the path along White Oak Bayou from far northwest Houston to Buffalo Bayou and downtown Houston, Turner said. "It gives us an alternative to our current transportation system," he said. "And the hike-and-bike network allows us to connect pieces we've never connected before in our city. Lots of trails have been built over time, but they weren't connected."

Turner said every new link in the network brings the city one step closer to its goal to improve off-road transportation.

"It's just so cool that we can make this happen," he said. "We're so appreciative of the federal dollars, because that's what allowed it happen."

The expanded pathway system will eventually include new directional signs and pedestrian amenities, including benches, bike racks, waste receptacles, lighting, trees and other landscaping, and an electric shuttle between two University of Houston campuses.

"If we build it, they will use it," Turner said. "We've always built trails, and we see great use. But when you can go somewhere on the trail, it becomes even more valuable. People will use them and get off the road."